The Firefly
by moonymonster
Summary: We all know what happened to Seto and Mokuba AFTER they went to the orphanage, but what about before? And what happens when a crazy pyro is loose on the town, burning every foster home in sight...and targets the brothers' new home?


The Firefly

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I don't own anything...and if you sued me you'd get an old 1998 computer and a drawing pad...so it's really not worth it ^^

Oh, and this is written for and inspired by the 22 kids who died in a fire in Russia a couple of weeks ago. They all got trapped in their boarding school...and 28, I think, are still in critical care....If you want to find out more about it, find the New York Times article for Sunday, April 13, 2003. I hope those poor kids rest in peace...  
  


    

****

June 5th, 1997, _Domino Weekly_  
Foster Home Burned to the Ground: Two Dead, Two Injured: Suspected Arson

June 23, 1997, _Domino Daily_  
Second Foster Home Attacked: Athorities Say Same Arsonist

June 29, 1997, _ Domino Times_  
Third Attack on Foster Homes: One Killed, Three Injured

July 5, 1997, _the Domino Register_  
"The Firefly" Strikes Again: Fourth Foster Home Goes Under Flames

July 12, 1997, _Domino Weekly_  
Arson Attacks Continue: Fifth Foster Home Falls Victim to "The Firefly"

    Everyone he knew was worried. Chiba-san had already called the police, asking them to patrol the neighborhood every evening, for fear the Firefly would decide her foster home was next in line to burn. Mokuba didn't really understand who he was; he just knew that whenever someone mentioned "the Firefly"--an "arsonist," whatever THAT was--Chiba-san would go pale and peek outside, just to make sure there was no one strange about.    She had a right to be fearful, although Mokuba didn't know it. Her foster home was one of the largest in Domino City. She could house up to twenty kids, and often did. The house itself was huge--in order to have the legal rights to house that many kids, it had to be. Mokuba could remember the first time he came here--he had actually gotten lost, and was very frightened until Seto found him again. At the time, he was four years and eleven months old--but now he was older and much wiser, at the ancient age of five years and two months old. At least, that was what HE thought--and no one could tell him any different.    "What's goin' on, Niisama?" asked the little boy as he listened to the police talk to Chiba-san. Although all the boys were kicked out of the room--so to speak--that didn't mean they wouldn't listen at the door, and Seto had won the right to listen at the keyhole.    "The police say there was another attack," Seto whispered. "But it was all the way in the Hikari District, across town."    "Does that mean the Firefly won't come here?" whispered Matsu, a friend of Mokuba's. He was seven years old, and had dark brown eyes and brown hair.    "They don't know," whispered Akihiro, another boy who lived in the house. "But they're pretty sure--" Suddenly, the door opened, knocking all the boys back.    "What are you boys doing?!" snapped Chiba-san, but her eyes were smiling. She was like that--she sounded harsh but was really very nice.    "Uh, we were just, uh," began Akihito, but was inturrupted by Seto.    "It's our house too," the boy said definantely. "We were listening to find out what's going on."    _"Seto!"_ another boy hissed angrily, but Seto didn't even favor him with a glance. Chiba-san looked at them for a second, then shooed them all away.    "We'll talk about this later," she said, than led the police to a more private room.

    "What do you think will happen, Niisama?" asked Mokuba fearfully as he watched the policemen file past them one by one.    "They'll probably stop patrolling every night. The police force will want to concentrate where the last fire was--they figure he's still around, and maybe they will catch him."    "Oh," was all Mokuba said in reply. His big brother was so much older--while Mokuba was five (and two months!) Seto was eleven.    The little boy immediately dismissed the idea of the Firefly being a threat--after all, if Seto said it, it must be true. His Niisama would never lie to him, and Niisama knew everything. If Niisama said the Firefly wouldn't burn down Chiba-san's house, then he wouldn't, and as far as Mokuba was concerned that was that.

    He carefully studied his next target, noting the police with a cool detachment. They would leave soon enough; this place was so far away from his last target they would never suspect a thing--and that was just what he wanted. Good, they were leaving now. _That's it boys, go save the others...you never did that for me, you bastards,_ he thought angrily, and started toying with his lighter, anxious for darkness to come. The flames were always so much prettier in the dark.

    Mokuba looked around as he played outside--an old habit he got from the last foster home. There the oldest boy--a burly kid with too much hair under his arms and not enough on his head--constantly picked on Mokuba, mostly by beating him up behind the house. Mokuba had quickly learned to keep a sharp eye out for him, and always, always, ALWAYS keep Seto in his sight. Now, of course, the other kids left him alone--even if they didn't all like him, they didn't dare mess with his Niisama, who of course knew everything and could hurt them all for even LOOKING at Mokuba oddly.    This time, however, Mokuba didn't see a burly kid looking for a chance to beat up a four year old--he saw an old man leaning against a fence outside. At least, to Mokuba he was old; the man was in his late thirties, with nondiscript black hair and boring, lifeless black eyes. He was toying with something in his right hand, and by carefully watching him out of the corner of his eye Mokuba could see the thing was a lighter.    "Mokuba! Catch!" cried Matsu, throwing a bright red ball to the little boy. In a second, the man with the lighter was gone, walking down the street. A part of Mokuba wondered if he was the Firefly, getting ready to kill. Of course, he was just being silly--after all, Niisama said the Firefly wouldn't come by and burn their house down, and Niisama knew everything.

*~*~*

    Finally.    It was time.     The policeman made his final patrol; he would make no more tonight. The man was sure of that. His hand strayed to his lighter, fingering the well-worn metal. Tonight, he would show the bastards what it was like to lose your house and family, what it was like to crawl out of the burning blaze that was your safety, your home, your life, crawl out blistered and crying with burns and scars that would never leave you the rest of your life, and simply stand there as your home burned to dust. No one came to help him then; no one would come to help the bastards now, the man would see to that. They would all watch as their house burned to the ground, and learn the same thing he did: the blessed fire was also a curse, and would destroy them forever.    He fingered the lighter lovingly, and let a small flame appear with the flick of a finger. The fire burned brightly, shifting and turning in the wind. Tonight was a good night to teach them all; the fire might even spread to more then one house. He was lucky his target was so far away from the last--the police were all searching way back in Hikari District, looking for a man who would never go back there again--until the bastards had to be taught another lesson, that was. They would all burn, and all watch their lives burn, just as he watched his life burn as he stood outside his home.     But now was not the time to think. Now was the time to act, to plan. Slowly, almost leisurely, he picked the locks on the back door. Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy--any fool could pick them. It further proved his rightness for performing the mission--the bastards were begging to be taught. The fire that stole his life and gave him a new one would blossom again tonight.    Now he had to decide where to start the sacred flame's burning. The kitchen, always the kitchen; that was where the fire started in his house, and turned his life around into a burning mass of pain, a strange mix of pleasure and torture as he completed the fire's task. He was only a minion, sent to help the master, and the fire was that master. It proved that every time it took another house, every time it burned someone's life to nothing. Fire would destroy all, the man was simply helping it along.    However, the kitchen was no good. There was nothing for the sacred flame to burn on. Besides, the smoke alarms would go off far too early; the fact they went off at all was an embarrassment. In the last house he visited, the alarms went off and no one learned the lesson they needed to know--he would not make the mistake again. This time, this time they would learn.     The man nodded to himself and silently walked down a hall, taking the batteries out of smoke alarms as he went. He found two as he walked, and could see a third down by the last room. He nodded again, removed the final batteries, and walked into the last room.     A seven or eight year old boy lay there, sleeping. The man knew what the fire wanted, what the fire needed--and this room was full of flammable objects, and it would easily spread to the others. He calmly walked over to the boy, and pulled out a plastic bag.    The boy never woke up.    That finished, the man set about fixing things just right for the sacred fire to burn. This was the most important, most vital part: the setting of the fire. Giving a silent prayer of thanks to the dead boy, he lit the bedclothes and carpet on fire.    The air stank of smoke and burning flesh. That was not good, the others would smell it and wake up before they learned the priceless lesson of the fire. That was not good at all.     He carefully opened the window, just a little bit, and closed the door behind him. It would keep the smell in for a bit, but the fire would burn through the door and get strong, strong enough to burn the whole house. In a second he was outside, in a moment walking down the street. He had to work very hard to not whistle pleasantly to himself as he walked.

    Mokuba didn't know what woke him up, but he wanted to go back to sleep. He noticed there was a strange smell in the air--could it be smoke? No, it smelled like meat roasting too--a barbeque? But it was so early in the morning...No, he was just imagining things. He thought for a moment to go into the kitchen and get something to eat--real or imagined, the barbeque smell made him hungry--but knew if Chiba-san found out he ate something late at night, she would be very angry. And she always found out.    Mokuba sighed and looked up. His brother slept in the bed above him--since Mokuba and Seto refused to be separated even in sleep, they were the only kids to get the honored bunk bed. Seto got the top bunk, of course, and whenever Mokuba had a bad dream or couldn't sleep, he crawled up and slept next to his brother.    As he climbed up, the barbeque smell got stronger. But it couldn't be the house. No way. Niisama said the Firefly wouldn't come, and that was that, he wouldn't come and burn their house down, because Niisama knew everything. It was just his imagination working together with his stomach.    "Mmmh...what...?" mumbled Seto as he felt Mokuba curl up next to him.    "Funny smell woke me up," explained Mokuba. "Smells like a barbeque. But it's so early in the morning..."    Seto blinked, and kept his eyes open, sniffing. Suddenly his eyes widened to the size of plates, and he yanked Mokuba down to the floor.    "Stay close to the ground!" He yelled.    "Why?" asked Mokuba, fightened.    "The house is burning down!"    Mokuba gasped, and ran to the door.    "No!" Seto cried even as Mokuba touched the hot metal knob. Mokuba yanked his hand back with a cry of pain. "It's hot!" he sobbed, clutching his injured hand.    "Here, like this!" Seto yanked off one of Mokuba's blankets, and used it to open the door.    "Oh, God..." he whispered as he stared outside.

    Fire was everywhere. It clung, a living snake, to the walls--it traveled along the floor, looking for victims--it crawled up the ceiling, trying to eat the very roof.    But the smoke alarms would not go off.    "WAKE UP!!" Screamed Mokuba, racing into the hallway. This was where most of the kids slept--there were seven in this hallway, and four more in the hallway by Chiba-san. "WAKE UP!! FIRE!! FIRE!!! _FIRE!!!"_    "WAKE UP!! THE HOUSE IS BURNING DOWN!!" Seto shouted, adding his screams to his brother's. Doors bust open, as the elder boys knocked down their doors and younger ones burned their hands trying to open them. Seto and Mokuba ran around trying to open the doors, waking up everyone.    "RUN!!" they shouted, and watch as the kids sprinted out to the back door.    "NIISAMA!!" Mokuba suddenly screamed. Seto's eyes widened even more, and he raced to his brother, who was kneeling next to a seven year old in the last room.    "It's Matsu, he won't wake up!" he cried, sobbing freely. "He won't wake up!!" Seto looked at him, and looked at how blue his skin was.    "That's right, Mokuba," he said softly. "He won't ever wake up. He's....he's dead. But we have to go, or else we'll become just like him." With that, he picked up his crying brother and ran down the hall.

    Then the roof started to cave in.    Seto cursed under his breath as he accidentally dropped Mokuba, trying to avoid the falling rubble.    Little bits of flame seemed to attack Mokuba, and embers lighted in his long, black hair. "NIISAMA! MY HAIR! IT'S ON FIRE!!" screamed the little boy, beating wildly at it with his palms._Oh God,_ Seto thought, and yanked off his shirt, trying to beat the flames out before they got started. Mokuba was sobbing, but kept trying to put the fire out. Finally, the flames were beaten into submission, and then were put out. The poor kid's hair was badly singed, but he would live.     "Keep this wrapped around your head," Seto ordered, handing Mokuba the shirt.    "No, you might need it!" the boy whimpered, and pushed it back. Not having the time to argue, Seto threw the shirt back on and grabbed his little brother, leading the way to the back door.

    As he climbed over the piles of plaster and wood, Mokuba felt a little hand grab at his foot, and heard someone moan underneath the rubble.    "Mo...kuba...help...me!" gasped Akihiro. Mokuba's eyes widened.    "Niisama! Akihiro's trapped!!" he cried, and started to paw the boy out. Seto quickly joined him, correctly guessing the kid wouldn't leave Akihiro alone, and the two of them soon had him free.    Akihiro's left leg was badly burned, and he couldn't walk on it. Grumbling and muttering under his breath, but not really begrudging the action, Seto let Akihiro lean on him, and led the three of them to the back door. God, they were almost there--

    The rest of the roof fell.

    Seto didn't allow himself the luxury of blacking out, even though he was in extreme pain--the rubble landed on all of them, and he had to help Mokuba. One look at Akihiro told him what he needed to know--the boy was dead, probably from the impact of the sharp, pointed plaster lodged deeply in his brain.    "Nii...sama...." moaned a soft voice.    "Mokuba! I'm right here! I'm coming!" Seto cried out, and dug furiously out of the rubble. He saw Mokuba's sweat and soot streaked face looking desperately at him, tears streaming down. However, that was the only bit of him he could see--the rest of him was covered in heavy plaster and heavier wood.    "Don't worry Mokuba, I'll get you out!!" he cried as he pawed into the mess, trying to save his little brother.    "Need some help, kid?" asked a deep voice. Seto's eyes widened as he recognized the fireman--about time!    "Yes!" he nearly screamed as he dug into the rubble, but the man was already at it before he even got out the first letter. In what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes, they had Mokuba free.    "Can you walk?" asked Seto, filled with worry.    "N-no," gasped Mokuba, clutching his leg in pain.    "I'll carry him," said the fireman, picking him up and carrying him out the back door.

    Mokuba and Seto watched as more firefighters raced into the house, to save anyone still living. Mokuba was in shock. Not only was his hand burned and his leg broken, but his best friend after Seto was dead. Dead. He knew what the word meant, and knew that he and Seto were even more alone then before--his only good friend other then his brother was dead.    "Is....Akihiro...dead too?" he whispered. Seto hung his head.    "Yes." He didn't need to say anything more--Mokuba moaned, and Seto grabbed him in a long and what felt like never ending hug. No one could get them to let go until the paramedics arrived.

    **July 28, 1997, _ Domino Times_  
Firefly Lights Another Match: Sixth Foster Home Destroyed--Four Killed, Eight Wounded**

    UMI DISTRICT, DOMINO CITY--a sixth foster care home was attacked last night in the early hours of the morning, killing three children and one adult, along with injuring eight others. Authorities say the arsonist nicknamed "The Firefly " is again responsible for this horrible crime.    "The day of the fire I saw a man with black hair and black eyes fingering a lighter," said Mokuba, a little boy age five. "I didn't know he was the Firefly...."     Based on what little evidence is left from the fire, and the decriptions from the children awake at the time, the Firefly snuck into the house around 1:30 AM via the back door. He then disconnected every smoke alarm in the house, and killed a seven year old boy named Matsu with a plastic bag or pillow, smothering him to death.    "We smelled a barbeque smell," said Mokuba, suggesting the Firefly started the fire in Matsu's room, than left.    Two children died directly in the fire, one by rubble from the roof and one by the flames themselves. Matsu was strangled or smothered to death, and the remaining adult--Chiba Yoshiko--received too many burns to survive, and died on the way to the hospital."She died protecting me," sobbed a little boy, age eight, who's entire right side is covered with first degree to third degree burns. "She was the bravest lady I know."    For now, the remaining children are going to stay in Hoshiro Orphanage, one of the remaining few still in Domino City.......... 

  
  
    **WHEWW!! I'm DONE!! D'you guys know how long this thing took? Ugh....**

If anyone happens to know the REAL name of the orphanage Seto and Mokuba lived in, I'd love to know it to make my story more acurate. Eheheheheh...

Oh, if you're wondering about the foster care instead of orphanage: there's one good reason. Orphanages don't exist any more. There's homes for runaway teens or kids, and there's foster homes....and there's maybe one or two of them, I'm not certain-sure they're extinct, but they sure as hell are on their way out. ^^;; I was very disappointed to find out a part of Seto and Mokuba's history was even more impossible then before...but yes, that's why it's a foster home. Oh, and another note: this obviously takes place before they go to the orphanage. They're going there at the end of the fic, if I have to spell everything out.

REVIEW! If you do, I might write a sequel! (After all, we have to actually FIND the Firefly, huh?) 


End file.
